The main riff is a crunchy and mildly heavy stomp with the trademark Swedish guitar tone, and Swano's vocals unlike most Swedish dm vocalists has a bit of strength to it. During the groove parts of the song he reminds me somewhat of a weaker JC of Gorefest, and with the crisp production of the song he rings clearly in the mix. Apart from the vocals the main riff deviates little and apart from a short solo does its job well, and the drums really just maintain the beat and the cymbal taps ring beautifully in the mix. This is probably one of the shorter filler songs on the album, though my experience with Edge of sanity is only with Infernal. Decent song nonetheless.

New band to me. Maybe not fair to the band, but initial impression was oh, a Behemoth clone. However, alot of that may must be the vocals that are more guttural rather than raspy and the tone of the guitar. However, musically it doesn't sound as "manufactured" as the recent Behemoth albums. There are some good riffs going on and the drumming holds it all together. The break at 2:30 adds some variety, and the solo to end the song is quite melodic and enjoyable. I do prefer any "blackened" death to have abit of a darker sound to them...but listened to a few other songs on the youtube and the band could be something I'd listen to, so thanks for the introduction

Haven't heard anything from these Norwegians since Kraft I think it was? Which didn't really impress me then, but this is slightly better. The opener is good to great, but can't shake that sort of generic feel to it, it just has stock sense about it. The guitars are suitably weighty though, I'll give them that, and the distorted to fuck bass is cool, with it's huge presence. Vocally this reminds me of a harsher Satyr (when Satyricon turned to utter shite...), with it's raspy nature, that sits comfortably on top of the music backing them up. This is decent, but is it supposed to pissed off? Because it doesn't seem to have enough vitriol behind it to make that tone stick, although they do seem to have a sense of annoyed national pride to them. The clean section of guitar midway through was neat'n'tidy, but never really inspiring, culminating in a crescendo that didn't have the power behind it I was expecting, and the lead work was sort of dull, never standing out or shining. Speaking of Shining, the part after the clean section, especially the riff work reminded me of them, before they descend once more into the central riff structure to close the track out. This was okay, but not outstanding as far as I'm concerned.

I've been meaning to check these guys out. Binah are a death metal band who have made their debut this year. This doesn't exactly break many genre barriers, but it is undeniably well done. The vocals are deep and cavernous, the riffing is tasteful and the drumming is well done and not too overpowering. The melodic (not in a Gothenburg sort of way) leads are really cool, they have a mournful vibe and are full of atmosphere. Overall, this is quality death metal with a cool sound.

I actually ended up watching that video several times. Very solid drone/sludge. Starts off with some very slow and heavy riffs with no restraint on the grimy distortion. The vocals are hypnotic and trance-like (your typical drone), and the vocalists harmonize with each other in a couple key spots to give the song lots of flavor and dimension. I also like how they have something of a bottom-out effect in some areas, it makes it seem almost mechanical. They throw in a couple more simple riffs as the piece strolls on, but simple works. The focus is on the vocals, and they don't do anything to impede them.Good stuff, good stuff.

Joined: Sat Dec 24, 2011 2:16 pmPosts: 7845Location: The Land Down Under (no, not THAT one)

Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2012 10:09 am

Cyclone Temple - Public Enemy

FUCKIN' THRASH, COMRADE!!! Oh yeah, this is some top tier, old school American thrash the way I bloody like it! It might not be groundbreaking, but it sure as hell is badass and more enjoyable than a cheese hamburguer made of strippers. The focus, obviously, is on the guitars, which take after the Hetfield School of Machine Gun Riffing, particularly the Master of Puppets brand of thought, if only ten times more destructive, abundant and overall energetic. I can detect a bit of early Exodus in there too, mostly because sometimes the guitar seems to go from a feeling of pummeling your bones to one of slicing and dicing your head into little, edible pieces. Oh, the drummer you ask of now? Well, I can sure as hell tell he's into Dave Lombardo's work, although whoever is behind Cyclone Temple's kit surely isn't as manic as the Slayer skin-pounder. Still, he does a terrific job, never overdoing it, but also never behaving like your average Lars Ulrich. For last, you got the production and vocals, the first one being ideal for this kind of music; crunchy and notoriously "80's sounding". No complains there. The vocals are a bit weak though, being reminiscent of a slightly bored Joey Belladonna, and lacking the aforementioned man's range, but the gang shouts that pop up here and there help to balance things out with some much needed punch.

Yup, really, really liked this stuff. Better check out the whole album when I got the time.

More exposure eh? As far as I'm concerned I have been personally playing this album, Hammer Of The North and Wolf's Return quite heavily lately, and with damn good reason. There is a palpable energy, vitality and dedication about this Swedish power trio that is kind of hard to find. Stylistically we're looking at straight-up heavy/doom metal here, but the way they go about things just makes the hairs on the back of your neck snap to attention. Every thing about their releases reeks of quality, abounding with stellar song craft, and those vocals! JB's pipes absolutely command your attention, with their at times, coarse nature. This is not derogatory, he has a edge to his voice, one that resonates with passion, whilst being completely fucking awesome with it. This album in particular has many standout tracks too, with the epic Silver Into Steel and Self Deceiver also standing tall, but as an opener you can't really go wrong here. The riffs seem to relatively simple, but has enormous power to them - almost effortlessly, a theme which regularly re-occurs with Grand Magus. Solid bass work, a perfect counterpoint to the drumming which in itself is remarkable, and over all of this is the at times, beautiful, heavy (even crushing) guitars. Outstanding band, truly a gem.

Awesome piece of straightforward, traditional-ish, mildly epic, totally dreamy heavy metal. The vocalist has this type of classy, slightly and naturally abrasive, mid-range to bassy, deep, full voice which evokes the likes of Dio, Jørn Lande or Messiah Marcollin, with a timber perhaps ideally suited for grandiose classic heavy rock. He rules. Style wise, this is sitting somewhere between Tony Martin era Sabbath and classic period Candlemass, although this has a sound of its own. The (electric) guitar riffs are very simple and discreet and serve more as atmosphere than meat, but that's okay: the eerie oriental-sounding arpeggio and the harmonized lead guitars (in unisson) and humble but warm and generous solos steal the show. The rhythm section is heavy and loud, and dishes out this almost hypnotic near mid-paced pattern to great effect. The melodies are brilliant and flow naturally throughout the song, and the subtle but very efficient choir layers enhance the experience as well. This is superb stuff. I've been meaning to give Grand Magus a try for a while, but didn't get around to doing it. Will do now. Thanks!

Pretty cool. Basically, this band is the answer to the question "what if Sepultura had kept its 'Schizophrenia' style, and developped it just a bit further, to this day?" and it's a really enjoyable answer. No need to go into details for the comparison, everything sounds like it owes a nod to that album, from the vocal approach to the riffing style to the drumming to the solos to the various tempo changes, but it's not a direct rip-off either, and it actually revives and "updates" (by implementing some later black and death elements) the style quite superbly. This is as close as genuinely evolved "evil thrash" as I suppose we can get this day and age. Bottom line, this is derivative but has true inspiration and very compelling songwriting, and it's crazy good at what it does. Edit: That riff is a monster!!! Thanks!

Well, I can usually count on LegendMaker for obscure 1980s German speed/power stuffs (I think he introduced me to Angel Dust, even). This is perhaps a little grittier than the usual German power stuffs, and I believe that the singer adds a great deal to this vibe. He's not exactly a smooth crooner, a bit like Peavy meets Klaus Meine or something equally Germanic (Germania? No?). In the first verse his phrasing sounds a bit off, but he gets better as the song goes on... reminding me a little of the first Scanner singer (MAJOR or whatever his name was ). I'd probably warm up to his voice with more listens, as his delivery is certainly quite interesting. I'm not crazy about this song, really, it's nice and the riffs are certainly as frantic as one would expect (with the solos being a nice melodic counterpoint to this)... however, given that this is an album/band I'd never even heard of before despite being a fan of this style/scene, I'll definitely check this out.

It's awesome to see so much love for Grand Magus here! And yeah, you should definitely check 'em out LegendMaker; that particular album, and it's sequel, Hammer Of The North, are sweet as hell pieces of epic heavy/doom metal, and totally worth your time. Cheers!

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Resident_Hazard wrote:

People do not just "have" self-esteem issues. An alien put a finger in your bum. You now see a stranger looking back from the mirror.

Yeah those two GM albums are very good, but their new one left me cold. Big nosedive in quality.

Classic Cloven Hoof. Starts with a riff that slightly ressembles the first one in Electric Eye, with groovy drums, leading into mostly melodic style riffs. In some of them, it's kind of hard to make out what the guitars are doing due to the ghetto sounding production, but I rather like it. This is only my third experience with Cloven Hoof, and it's quite a bit better than the other few songs I've heard. The bass is also quite loud and does it's own thing, as was common in NWOBHM (which this clearly is, unless I'm somehow mistaken). The vocalist is great and has a distinctive tone, not abusing high notes and mostly staying in his mid-range. The solos are as catchy as the chorus. All in all, a solid song.

First of all, what the fuck?! I mean obviously people like this (utter rubbish) on some level, but I'm not sure how. I'll get the most annoying aspect out of the way firstly: the vocals are COMPLETELY, UTTERLY FUCKING IRRITATING in the extreme! I honestly do not know how anyone can tolerate an album full of this pig squealing nonsense - it's beyond retarded. I really like death metal, but this... mutant offspring of that genre needs to be eradicated. Musically it's not too dissimilar, with (almost) random bursts of speed and "technicality" thrown in because, well, why not eh? Problem is though it doesn't actually help the song in any way, it sound out of place to the relatively simple, stodgy, plodding brOOtal parts. There is nothing to hold on to here, no flow, or even decent song craft. Are bands like this taking the piss? Or do they expect to be taken seriously? Imma leave this shit well alone, and not going to say any more, as I hated it.

hahahaha. Well mate, I was expecting that reaction by posting slam (I think this is the first time in this thread. I like it because it's fun and groovy (also, impossible for me to not headbang to. And yeah, most of these bands have really choppy structure, it's love or hate.

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theposaga about a Moonblood rehearsal wrote:

So good. Makes me want to break up with my girlfriend, quit my job and never move out of my parents house. Just totally destroy my life for Satan.

hahahaha. Well mate, I was expecting that reaction by posting slam (I think this is the first time in this thread. I like it because it's fun and groovy (also, impossible for me to not headbang to. And yeah, most of these bands have really choppy structure, it's love or hate.

Okay, first things first: 50 seconds of nothing but a faint larsen is not earning you guys any points in the good columns, guys. Please shut it and get this started already. Hmm, didn't expect that at all, but that's something, at least. I really need confirmation on the horribly muffled and shitty sound quality, here: is it the actual sound, or is it just a crappy YT upload? You can barely hear the song, it's as if they had recorded it properly, and then played the CD in one room while recording it with one microphone from the next room. Fine, let's get to the meat. This is obvious early 80's raw speed and, to a lesser extent, "evil thrash" retro/revival/worship. The verse riff and vocal melody are actually impressively close to that of Razor's classic "Fast and Loud". It's not bad in and of itself, and I'm guessing from the slower passages and the gruff, repetitive vocal approach that it's also influenced by Hellhammer/Celtic Frost (PileDriver-like tortured shrieks aside); it also incorporates some black elements, not unlike other recent bands obsessed with the "evil thrash" days (except that in their case it's the six string chord riffing, and possibly the shitty barely audible sound job — if it's intentional, instead of the harsh vocals, as is more often the case). I'm just not that into it. I guess it might be a grower. The mid-paced moments with the old school, cymbal-heavy drumming, the grave, slightly intriguing doom riff, and the demented screams is rather nice. But yeah, there's so much awesome stuff in this field, that I don't really see a lot for me in what those guys bring to the table in 2000-fuckin-8. I think I'll pass.

Well yeah, like I said above, I was a tidbit pissed off after having just spent a solid couple of hours typing comments for y'all, only to realize I closed the tab before submitting them, and lost them forever. Well, I could always re-type it all and re-research the links I had included and all, but damn... It's frustrating. Nobody's fault but mine, though.

Okay, duly noted about the shitty quality being mostly due to the YT poster's incompetency. I guess it only proves my "always double-check a link yourself before posting it" policy right. Trust me, I've had many, many songs I meant to post here but didn't because no decent sounding link was available. You're better off picking something else than setting someone up for a crappy first impression of a song/band you like. So I take it this is closer to the CD's actual sound? It's not bad at all, and I hear a whole lot more early Venom in their sound than I did before, now.

I'm going in chronological order as is my habit, so I've now given its first listen to their debut. It's really good and not too far removed from the awesome later song posted here, but it's a bit more in the happy bluesy mood inspiration wise, and it also very clearly takes direct cues from early Sabbath riffing style wise (something they apparently outgrew later on, which is promising). I'm eager to explore the rest and really thankful for this find.

I'm glad I could be of service, dude. I'm surprised you had never even heard of Mania despite being into 80s German power/speed. Didn't think of those guys as that obscure nowadays. They had a bunch of different singers in their (awesome) demo days, all competent, and then Klauke for their EP and album, the both of which are mixed bags with some gems and some not so great tracks as well. I really like Klauke's vocals, actually; you might come around after a few more listens. For the record and to give a bit of context, these guys were a promising rising force in the underground scene quite early on, and despite what some think, they're far from just a minor band who jumped on the Helloclone bandwagon in the late 80's. Weikath actually thanked them explictly in the liner notes of either 'Helloween' or 'Walls of Jericho' for a riff he "borrowed" from one of their demos (he even cited both songs for reference, something he'll never do again, sadly — giving credit where it's due, that is, not ripping off riffs and ideas). Anyways, "Turn Towards the Light" is, IMHO, one of their definitive standout tracks, so if that one doesn't impress you, I suppose you won't become a great fan of that band.

For starters, I'm glad Crushed took that one for the team, as I could barely endure about a minute of the Pulverize track Necro posted before I angrily closed the YT tab. I managed to listen to it in full eventually, but that's really not something I want to reiterate.

Beyond that, I was really surprised by the use of the term "slam" to classify this stuff. If I recall correctly, there already was a tiny subgenre coined "slam" in the late 80s and early 90s, and that was slightly groovy and technical thrash. You know, the genre Gothic Slam named itself after? Anyways, after noticing that *no* band has the term "slam" in their genre tag here at MA, I did a bit of research and came up, mostly, with this metalsucks article.. Now, I'm interested to know if the info there is to be trusted, and by that I don't mean what the guy says, which is laughable (more on that below), but just whether what he points out as belonging to this new "slam" genre is generally called so or not. The thing is that the guy spends a whole lot of energy "proving" that, basically, "slam" should not be confused with shitty generic, unmetal deathcore, because that's insulting... Except that every time he offers 2 links back to back and goes "see? this shit sounds nothing like that shit! told you!", I actually think both shits sound, not just like shit, but very similar to one another, at that.

The impression I got is that this "slam" genre is essentially just an attempt at going more extreme and sounding tougher by those same deathcore kiddies who've been raping death metal and melodeath for years, and that they very clearly have no genuine metal reference points in their influences, only the deathcore stuff itself. So they end up with a barrage of useless, samey sounding, boring as holy fuck groovy chug fest with comical asthmatic pig squeals on top, but without the Nickelback ballad moments. Good for them, I guess, as it at least shows some willingness to innovate or evolve from what they might perceive as the beaten path... But this feels a bit like watching a completely isolated savage tribe, clueless to what humanity at large has been up to so far, accidentally stumbling upon a bottle of long-turned-bad ketchup and trying to "invent" the tomato from there.

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Osore wrote:

I would like to hear some recommendations of black metal bands/albums that sound depressive, yet sad and melancholic at the same time.

Considering how much '80's PM I've heard, I'm surprised I hadn't heard this before, but after listening to it, I don't really feel I was missing out on much. The song is decent overall, but nothing special; the riffs are okay, but not good enough to stand up to the repetition of them that's used in the song, and that solo is awful hard rock shit. The best thing here is the singer, who sounds sort of like a cross between Geoff Tate and Terry Jones, which in this case is a good thing. He especially reminds me of Michael Knoblich, of the little-known Jester's March. Anyway, a fun listen, but not something I'd be likely to play again.

For an old USPM band the intro seemed kind of ominous and its a shame I kinda wish they would've carried on in the vein of that darker intro, as the riff kinda went in a typical speed metal slightly over-midpaced tempo. The vocals in the chorus "Give me metal or give me death" reek of a cheesy homage to the music, but after his higher screech and the Overkill-esque riff around 2:34 the song gets a bit more aggressive. The solo is the highlight of the song as the tempo doesn't really do it for me, and it ended a bit too soon (though its characteristic in this type of music) and its back to the main riff. Its a shame the band didn't record more like so many bands playing that particular sound, they just made one miniature blip and disappeared forever into obscurity.

He especially reminds me of Michael Knoblich, of the little-known Jester's March.

Do you actually mean Olaf Bilic, or are you specifically referring to their early demo with Major Knoblich of 'Hypertrace' fame on it? Because that's not him singing on this (I actually much prefer Olaf's Kiske-ish vocals to Michael's, and prefer SL Coe to both).

Other than that, fair enough on Veto, I guess. They're by no means a must-have band, but they have a bunch of songs I find really great on their couple of albums. Also some borderline AOR/glam hard/heavy fillers, not unlike some of their more prominent peers like GraveStone or StormWitch. Jester's March is really cool too, and more consistently power metal overall (then again, they're second generation, and had plenty of hints to take from bands like Helloween, BG or... say, Veto).

Intrüder - "Give Me Metal"Well, well, what do we have here? Damn, I never suspected there was another American Intruder (well, with än ümläüt) before the legendary 'Psycho Savant' one! I see, a 2 song "EP", then gone forever (what? that's called a single, guys), this must be why. Anyways, this is some pretty straightforward, NWoBHM-spirited, rocking hard/heavy/speed. That's a fine song for this typical mid-80s style, albeit pretty by-the-numbers songwriting wise. The riff is pretty basic but efficient, the rhythm section is unspectacular but solid, and the high-pitched raspy shrieks are pretty good, they evoke bands like Chateaux, Grim Reaper or Wild Dogs in spirit and style alike. Not a fan of the flashy but unfocused soloing, and the sound quality isn't too good here, but it's clearly a vinyl rip and on YT, so I'm guessing the actual production must have been okay. Nothing much to write home about, unless perhaps the A-side of this long lost single is of a higher caliber? Can't seem to find it on YT, though. Well, thanks for the oddity, still. Always nice to dig up new obscure stuff.

Good old old-school death metal, with a lot of the "evil thrash" spirit intact, and plenty of that 85-86 sloppy goodness, evoking Sepultura, Kreator, Slayer or Possessed while still being pretty firmly rooted in death metal already. The sound is organic and not too clean, which works really well here. Musicianship is great, especially the blastbeat-heavy yet varied and classy drumming and the awesome otherworldly lead guitar work (that swarm-of-berzerk-locusts sounding burst of rapid notes on the chromatic scale trick works wonders). Strong song structure with tempo changes and breaks aplenty that all flow naturally, driving riffs and excellent gruff vocals make this a winner in my book (nowhere near the type of accomplished growls CorpseGrinder would later adopt). What's not to like?

Xentrix are a band I've heard of a few times, but I've never got around to listening to. The first riff is extremely catchy, and carries a very satisfying, chunky feel, with it's growling tone and mid-tempo thrash swagger - Not as energetic as I'd normally go for in the thrash department, but it does a really good job of being mid-tempo, not sounding lazy, but simply a bit restrained. The vocals work well in the music - nothing to write home about, but nonetheless enjoyable, and quirky enough not to be too clichéd. The production suits the music really well, with the slightly dry sound being quintessentially [i]thrash[/i[. An element which the band handled really well was the sections where only bass and drums were playing - I can safely say I love it when thrash-bands do that.

That's one way to put it. It doesn't really have many supporters around here. But it's much closer to brutal death metal than deathcore (if you look up most slam bands, that's what they're classified under over here). I never ever take metalsucks seriously, but he describes slam pretty well (while his comparisons to deatchore are poorly worded) Slam very rarely uses what you think of when you think of deathcore "breakdowns" and most of the bands aren't deathcore influenced at all. It's mostly about taking the morbidity of death metal to a ridiculous and silly extreme. For example, Cephalotripsy is probably the stereotypical slam band, as they play almost nothing but slams, but their music is some of the most incredibly retarded stuff out there.

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theposaga about a Moonblood rehearsal wrote:

So good. Makes me want to break up with my girlfriend, quit my job and never move out of my parents house. Just totally destroy my life for Satan.

Thanks for the honest answer. I still find the 2 pretty closely related in terms of how sterile and similar they sound to me, but it's not impossible this is coincidental. One thing's for sure, this stuff doesn't float my boat. It has at the very least that in common with deathcore. Don't want to spoil the fun for you, though, even if by describing it yourself as silly and ridiculous and retarded, you don't come across as such a huge fan yourself.

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Osore wrote:

I would like to hear some recommendations of black metal bands/albums that sound depressive, yet sad and melancholic at the same time.

I've gotten pretty into it recently, but it's not even close to being my favourite genre that's the funny thing though, all those seemingly negative qualities apply, but they just serve to make it more awesome. It's like the stupider it is, the more I enjoy it. Probably the only music I can say about.

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theposaga about a Moonblood rehearsal wrote:

So good. Makes me want to break up with my girlfriend, quit my job and never move out of my parents house. Just totally destroy my life for Satan.

So these guys play death metal with maybe a bit of grind in there. Maybe I'm just not in the right mood right now, but this didn't do a whole lot for me. There's lots of tremolo picked riffs, which I just didn't find very interesting. The lower vocals are cool, very throaty. The songwriting was solid enough for the first minute or so, but after that it falls apart a bit. The little electronic effect kind of just before the three minute mark was random, didn't really have anything to do with anything. The solo I particularly didn't like, overly sugar and tame. I don't know, this song seemed kind of jumbled and as if they couldn't decide what they wanted to be. I don't think this is really all that horrible, but it didn't really excite me.

Now I'm not sure if the songs title is a poor translation, as it seems unusually strange, even for a death metal track. This is a somewhat unique release this album, being released in a time when Norway was wallowing elbow deep in black metal bands, and these guys have the audacity to record a devastatingly brutal death metal album! This is Øystein G. Brun's band before he made it (relatively) big with Borknagar don't ya know? Enough history! I actually heard this when it was first available, and was flattened, and confused by this beast. Not only is the compositions marginally challenging (complete with full-blown, strange, folk violin segment sandwiched in amongst the brutality), but the actual mix is bizarre in it's own right. This has a very curious sound about - very metallic, and bloody heavy, with deeply buried vocals which barely register at all underneath the swarming morass of guitars. It's extremely top heavy in the guitar section, as they are the focal instrument, and they do literally engulf you, with twists and turns galore, all brutishly delivered. The actual song writing has a slightly individual tone as well, there is something so damn Norwegian about this (could be those violins?) that I can't shake. Whether it be nostalgia rattling my cage, or it's off center approach (again, violins!), either way this is a truly unruly, exclusive beast.

I don't think I've listened to this album in ages...but i should since as I like this album and In My Darkened Shrines the best. I find their is a bit more variety regards to tempo and everything rather than an all out assault. The song has some really good rhythmic work which has a nice combination of melody and brutalness. The leads aren't overly special, but i find they work well with this song. I like the section at 1:12 - 1:30. Abit different and has that egyptian atmosphere that Nile does well. The drumming has some good fills and is constantly changing (closer to the drumming in Shrines which is a highpoint on that album). The chanting near the end of the song used to be a downer for me on this song. I never really understood why they would add that into the song and ruin the flow of the song. However, this time....I find it works well with the theme and sound of the song. Interesting how ones taste changes over time.

I've tried to get into this band multiple times, all of which weren't very successful. This track off Black Seeds of Vengeance isn't going to motivate me to look again, though. The first thing I notice is that the drums are the most prominent in the mix, which I can't say I like all that much. I'd rather have the guitars be the most prominent, but it's not a huge loss because Derek Roddy does a pretty decent job blasting away behind the kit. The guitar riffs are pretty standard fare for death metal, though a bit more old-school in nature than most tech/brutal death metal bands are keen on using. The vocals, just like everything else here, are well-done, but there will be no earth-shattering revelations here. However, the best parts of this song come when Nile isn't blasting away at full-speed. The solo starting at about 0:48 is a pretty cool one, and the first part of it is just a little atmospheric, bringing me into the tombs of pharaohs in Egypt far better than blast beats can. And even more atmosphere, and the chanting that Nile has a tendency to do around 2:24 is just great. Both of those things offer up a nice change of pace from Nile's... dare I say sometimes boring ways. Again, this is far from bad, there are just better places to get brutal/tech death fillings. Like Those Whom the Gods Detest, which I might give another shot when I'm done here.

The vocals standout amidst the depressive background riff in a very pronounced slow tone, though overall I don't think this fits the usual Mutiilation influenced band. The music isn't as raw or depressive as Mutiilation in fact it seems more contemplative, the main riff's got a bit of Burzum's repetitive flow in it until the keyboards hit around 3:50 where it suddenly picks up and drops tempo. The drumming varies little except during the tempo pickup where there is a slight dash of double bass, he maintains the flow during most of the song and he seems content with doing just that. Overall, a great atmospheric track of atmospheric black metal from a band I need to hear more of now.

The thing that struck me immediately about the song is how low the quality is. This is raw beyond Youtube's capability to fuck things up, methinks. I initially thought this was some demo track, but much to my amazement, this apparently comes from the band's only full-length. That aside, though, this is a pretty decent slab of heavy metal from the '80s... the way it used to be done. The intro is very doomy and foreboding in a Black Sabbath-ish manner, and it's really awesome. The rest of the song, however, doesn't quite hold up. The guitar riffs, or what I can make out of them, aren't too outlandish or special to my ears (as untrained in the ways of traditional metal as they are). The drums and bass can be made out well, though. The bass and drums mostly plod along, keeping time while those really annoying vocals do most of the work. Think of King Diamond's falsettos, but as this guy's actual singing voice. Just a little bit higher, perhaps. I've never been a fan of ultra-high-pitch singing like this, so maybe it's just me. This could've been pretty good if they had a singer that didn't sound like that.

I've been a fan of Obtained Enslavement for quite a while, but I only own the first album so far, so this song is new to me - it sounds a little different, but still has the same raw, but melodic feel. Obtained Enslavement, I've always considered to be Pest's natural environment when it came to being a vocalist, and this album is no exception, with his cold vocals really complimenting the dark but grandiose feel of the music, with the tight, organic sounding relentless barrage of drumming and majestic tremolos. The synth, subtly underneath the guitar parts certainly adds to the vast, expansive and beautiful feel of the music. This has definitely reminded me that I need to carry on getting and listening to Obtained Enslavement albums. In fact, I'll listen to Centuries of Sorrow now.

from the first riff I had this expectation of a traditional heavy metal satan themed band, but when the first real riffs start about 30 seconds in, the thrash influence is out there and the vocals have a harsh thrash style i guess somewhat similar to Sodom?? Production is similar to old school thrash with the guitars high in the mix. riffs are solid throughout and the bridge at 1:50 is good, but nothing groundbreaking..... similar to the lead at 3:00. Having said that, thats not what they are going for and the main riffs stand out as good thrash riffs that one could definitely headbang to. The drumming is pretty good, and he throws in some blast beats near the end of the song but aside from that he seems to just go about his business. I enjoyed the song and will check out some other songs by them...we'll see if they stick as a "regular" listen!

Om is an awesome album the whole way through, a very interesting and weird take on black metal. This song is great, good riffing, all the orthodox parts of this is solid. The weird shit is what makes it exceptional though. The synth work is really solid, and the creepy piano that's added as the song goes on is great. The exotic drumming adds a really bizarre feel. I especially like the first section of the outro, really otherworldly stuff. All in all, a great song from a great album.

I didn't like this. A few good guitar licks showed that these guys do have talent, but on the other hand, giving a band props just for knowing how to play their guitars is fucking retarded. This was mostly just really dull technical/brutal death metal where the technical aspects and the brutal aspects canceled each other out quite asininely...the vocals are pretty standard grunts and the production is pretty faceless and the riffs don't really do much for me, sounding pretty weak for a supposedly brutal band, and without much energy in 'em. I also found that the song didn't have much momentum and when it ended, I pretty much felt like I was in the exact same spot I was when I started. Boredom put to music right here.

Never heard 'em before, but not a bad way to start the track I'll give them that, as it has a somewhat ballsy approach straight off the bat. We are a little further away from my usual tastes here, but this is still pretty cool. Guitar tone is suitably meaty, with a very slightly corrosive bite to it. This heavy fuckin' metal, so don't be scared to throw some solos in every now and then eh? Which they do almost immediately. The main riff itself, is fairly straight forward, without pulling any real surprises, but underneath it the bass is quite happily rumbling and wandering around, and is clearly audible making some cool, fat licks. My knowledge is somewhat lacking in this particular genre, so I don't really have any comparisons for the vocals, which at times, I thought, sounded... strained, or lacking up in the higher register. I mean they're certainly not awful, they seem to sound a little weak in places. The musicianship here is extremely competent, but there's something missing here (no not the obligatory solo), and I believe it to a problem in song dynamics. There is very little variation throughout this number - it's blatantly linear. This is the track's downfall for me, as I was waiting for some sort of heavy metal magic to erupt, which sadly never eventuated. Competent, good even, just a wee bit stale for me.

this has been recommended quite a few times to me, but never too interested to really listen...i guess no time like the present to check it out. The intro didn't really do too much for me...it had this atmospheric vibe but when the music starts its like an all out assault, so felt abit disjointed or just not necessary. However, the actual music is good. fairly raw yet you can hear the riffs and its mixed well. there are a few odd guitar sounds over the riffs. The slower tempo section around 4 minutes and 5 minutesin is kinda cool especially at 5:30 where their is some keyboards that have a mysterious sound...so good outro to the song. Overall, it was a good mixture of intensity and some more atmospheric sections although as mentioned early, i found the intro not necessary for the song. I noticed this is off a split, is there a particular album you would recommend?

For Leviathan, I wholeheartedly recommend all of Wrest's material from the splits as it's all excellent. As for albums though it's kind of hard not to recommend both The Tenth Sub-Level Of Suicide and the acerbic, sprawling, monstrously wicked Tentacles Of Whorror. The title track of the debut is splendidly evil and menacing, as is much of Tentacles.... Happy listening.

Wow, 5 days without a mini-review, really? And 4 without a post. Well, I'm one to talk, considering I basically deserted the thread for months on out. Okay, let's see what's so fearsome none of you brave metal hearts took it on yet...

Hey, Suidakra! Long time no see, boys. Still going strong, I see? Good for you, pals. So where did you go from that punchy, invigorating power/melodeath with just a sprinkle of symphonic melodic black metal inspiration you were into the last time I heard you? Oh. Quite a lot more folk in your metal, now, huh? That's okay. Not entirely sure I'm as appreciative of just how thin you've spread your song (about twice as long as the proper content required), the overly soft EuroPM influences, the blatantly-Maiden-derived harmonized lead guitar sections, the never-fucking-ending goofy male chants, let alone... the bagpipes. But other than that, you're still competent musicians, this is very well-produced, and the parts with a more serious approach still sound very fucking good (well, the guitars, mostly). Actually, the first 50 seconds are excellent, with this melancholic arpeggio leading to this rather epic moment with potent raspy vocals over it. Other moments, notably the leads that don't make asses of themselves by aping Maiden, are pretty fine. And yeah, I guess those guys always had this "if Hansi and André do it, then throwing a McCartney-in-his-utmost-silly-love-songs-mood moment right in a middle of a fucking epic metal passage is a-okay" side to them, even back when they thought they were a black metal band... But this song seems to be telling me that by that album, that side got the best of them. Yeah, I dunno, maybe I just read too much into those old songs, maybe they're a more "extreme" Manticora born to disappoint me with their wasted good riffs and frustrating potential. Maybe I just can't get myself to really like stuff based on that goofy-happy-samey-sounding folk/celtic/RW scale anymore, except when it's actually classic Running Wild or something else with charm and personality to make up for its genericness. Blah/meh.

As usual for Holy Terror, excellent power/speed/thrash, with the fantastic Keith Deen on vocals. Those raspy, powerful but still melodic vocals fit the material perfectly. The riffing is absolutely furious, yet still maintains the melodic sensibilities that make it enjoyable for me. Catchy and powerful as fuck, there's not a single note gone to waste here. Top-tier stuff for sure.